The General Consulate of Spain in Havana has a contract with the PALCO Employment Company, a Cuban state entity subordinate to the Council of Ministers, which allows the company to accept or reject workers proposed by Spanish authorities. This authority, expressly outlined in the labor supply contract signed between both parties, grants the Cuban regime company a veto power over the incorporation of local personnel to the consular office.
The document, signed on January 1, 2025, by then Consul General Antonio Álvarez Barthe and Rubén Santiesteban Ferrás, Director General of PALCO, corresponds to file 2024SWs00114. The contract was awarded for €1,131,295.68, has an initial duration of four years, and includes the provision of office personnel and general services.
Clause 3.9 of the contract states that the Consulate can propose any candidate to fill the available positions, but PALCO "may provide them or not." The document specifies that as long as the Cuban state company does not accept the proposed personnel, they will not be able to provide services to the Spanish authorities.
This means that the selection of a worker by the Consulate does not guarantee their incorporation, as PALCO retains the right to reject them, even when they have been chosen by the Spanish diplomatic representation.
For its part, clause 2.1 establishes that the Consulate may only use the services of Cuban workers or foreign permanent residents on the island if they have previously established an employment relationship with PALCO. Additionally, clause 3.3 stipulates that positions and functions must be agreed upon by both parties and that any change in specialty must be communicated to the employing company.
The contract also regulates the withdrawal and termination of employees, although these powers do not exclusively belong to PALCO.
Clause 3.10 allows the state enterprise to terminate the employment relationship and withdraw the staff provided for duly justified reasons, as long as it communicates its decision to the Consulate with 30 calendar days' notice.
However, clauses 3.8 and 3.11 also grant powers to the Spanish authorities. The Consulate may decide to dismiss an employee with the established notice period, and in cases of negligence, misconduct, or other causes attributable to the employee, they may request immediate termination without having to compensate PALCO.
Therefore, the Cuban company does not have exclusive control over the permanence of the personnel, but it does retain a decisive authority over their incorporation: no candidate proposed by Spain may start working under this contract if PALCO decides not to accept them.
This provision highlights the dependency of the Spanish Consulate on a labor mediation mechanism controlled by the Cuban state, even when it comes to individuals selected by the Spanish authorities themselves.
The Sánchez government defends the hiring with PALCO
The Government of Pedro Sánchez officially acknowledged the hiring of personnel through PALCO in a response to the Congress of Deputies dated September 23, 2026, following a written question submitted by deputies from the Popular Party.
In his response, the executive stated that the personnel provided by the Cuban company perform administrative, technical, and support functions "under the direction and supervision of the officials of the Consular Office."
He also stated that those employees "under no circumstances" perform functions reserved for Spanish public officials nor participate in the decision-making regarding civil registry files, passports, or visas.
However, the parliamentary response does not elaborate on the powers that the contract grants to PALCO to reject candidates proposed by the Consulate, which is a different issue from the supervision of the tasks performed by workers once they are incorporated.
While the Spanish authorities maintain control over daily operations and decisions regarding consular files, the Cuban company must intervene in the hiring process and can prevent the inclusion of candidates selected by Spain.
The executive also did not specify in that response the specific mechanisms used to verify the suitability of the staff provided by PALCO or the procedures applicable when Spanish authorities raise objections regarding certain workers.
The government justified state mediation by citing Decree-Law 384 of 2019, which regulated the hiring of local personnel for foreign representations in Cuba.
According to his explanation, this practice has been in use since 2017 and is a requirement of Cuban legislation, which mandates that diplomatic missions must employ state-owned companies.
The contract reveals how much PALCO charges and how much the workers receive
Another relevant aspect of the original document appears in its annexes, which identify the job positions, monthly hours, the cost of the service billed by PALCO, and the salaries agreed upon for the employees.
For example, for an office assistant, the contract establishes a monthly service cost of 5,822.47 Cuban pesos (CUP), while the agreed monthly salary for the worker amounts to 3,706.69 CUP.
The difference is 2,115.78 CUP per month per employee, which is approximately 36.3% of the amount that PALCO charges for that service.
In the case of the general service assistants, the annexes detail a monthly cost of 5,702.57 CUP and an agreed salary of 3,630.14 CUP, resulting in a difference of 2,072.43 CUP.
These figures, stated in the contract itself, show that the state-owned company receives an amount greater than the agreed remuneration for each worker, although the document does not allow us to determine what portion of this difference corresponds to management expenses, labor obligations, or other concepts.
The labor intermediation system was also the subject of investigations by the Spanish press, which questioned the disparity between the payments made by the Spanish authorities and the wages ultimately received by Cuban employees.
The workers of PALCO and the files of the Grandchildren's Law
The significance of these clauses is particularly heightened due to the volume of personal documentation managed by the Consulate General of Spain in Havana.
The consulate has received over 350,000 applications for Spanish nationality under the Democratic Memory Law, known as the Grandchildren's Law, a process that requires handling birth certificates, family certificates, identity documents, and other personal information of the applicants.
To address the avalanche of cases, Spain resorted to personnel provided by PALCO, a company that benefits from the labor intermediation system established by the Cuban authorities.
The Popular Party raised questions with the Government regarding the physical and computer access of those workers to the files and the possible connections of the company with the military conglomerate GAESA, controlled by the Revolutionary Armed Forces.
In its parliamentary response, the Executive assured that access to documents and information systems is limited to the needs of the service and is subject to mechanisms of authorization, supervision, and traceability.
He also stated that staff must adhere to confidentiality obligations and comply with current regulations regarding data protection and information security.
However, the response does not specify the specific access levels for each category of employee nor does it detail the individual verifications carried out prior to their onboarding.
The existence of these contractual faculties does not demonstrate that PALCO or the Cuban authorities have improperly accessed nationality files. However, it raises questions about the controls applied to workers whose hiring depends on a foreign state-owned company.
The controversy surrounding the Law of Grandchildren has also extended to the electoral arena. This Monday, the Supreme Court of Spain rejected a appeal from the State Attorney and upheld the precautionary suspension of the vote for certain individuals naturalized through this law in the general elections on November 29. This measure could affect 163,020 voters, although it does not imply the loss of Spanish nationality nor does it clarify how many of those affected are Cuban.
PALCO and its connections to the Cuban state apparatus
Grupo PALCO is a Cuban state entity subordinate to the Council of Ministers, dedicated to providing services to government agencies, diplomatic representations, and foreign entities.
The company has been linked to the economic network associated with GAESA, the business conglomerate controlled by the Cuban Armed Forces and subject to U.S. sanctions.
His career has also been surrounded by controversies. In October 2024, the group's name was linked to reports about an investigation into alleged financial irregularities involving Yoel Perdomo Di-Lella, brother of then Deputy Prime Minister Jorge Luis Perdomo Di-Lella, who was dismissed that same month.
In the case of the Spanish Consulate, the main question is not only about the public funds allocated to the company but also regarding the powers it retains over the hiring of employees.
Although Spain maintains direction over consular functions, it retains the authority to decide on the termination of employees and holds responsibility for nationality matters, the contract allows PALCO to reject candidates proposed by the Spanish authorities.
In this way, the operation of the Consulate relies on a Cuban state-owned enterprise for the hiring of its local staff, which can prevent the incorporation of workers even when they have been selected by the Spanish diplomatic representation itself.
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